But in many families the handouts are even higher, according to research by insurance company Aviva.

One in 10 admitted to giving their children more than £9,000 a year - a whopping £750 per month - while a quarter of parents (23%) give studying children at least £5,000 per year, or around £417 a month.

For students whose parents can’t afford to shell out to support them completely, finding a part time job is common. A total of 43% of parents said their children worked in term time, while 42% had a job in the holidays.

A couple looking at a bill (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

But these students could be at a disadvantage compared to their better-funded peers. Of the parents whose children worked, 37% were worried it had negatively impacted on their studies.

The majority of families who have offspring at university give them some kind of financial support. Eight parents in 10 said they’d given their children money during their studies.

Louise Colley, customer director for Aviva, said: “The vast majority of parents with children at university are helping them financially throughout their studies, but few have the funds to cover all related costs.

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“Aviva research suggests that students could find themselves with £44,000 of debt on graduation – so it’s understandable that many parents aren’t able to give their children this level of support.

“The average age at which people have children is also increasing, with 22% of babies in England and Wales born to mothers over the age of 35 and more than 4% born to mothers aged 40 and above. For fathers, the number of older parents is even higher.

“This means many parents could be facing the dual challenges of supporting children through university while preparing for retirement – and potentially caring for ageing parents too.”

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Despite the massive outlay, one in five parents questioned didn’t think going to university had been worthwhile for their children.

This echoes another survey carried out by Aviva in 2016, in which 37% of graduates questioned said they regretted going to university because of the debts they ran up.

Graduation doesn’t put a stop to family help, either. Nearly a third of the parents questioned had given, or planned to give, their offspring cash to help pay off those student debts.

The news comes as the results of the National Student Survey, published on Wednesday, show an average drop in student satisfaction.

In 2016, 86% of students said they were satisfied with their course but this year it’s down to an average of 84%.